My insurance company is trying to kill me.
-radical sapphoq
*more in a few days*
Monday, December 28, 2009
Sunday, November 15, 2009
A Modest Proposal for Health Care for Americans
I propose these things in order to ensure basic health care for every United Statsian citizen:
(1). That there be public health clinics in every county which would provide health care for anyone who is unable or unwilling to pay for insurance.
(a). These clinics would be staffed by medical personnel who have just graduated. Thus every physician would be required to work for say two years full-time in these public health clinics before being allowed to go on to group or private practice.
(b). These public health clinics would provide the following: medical exams, urgent care facilities, eye exams and cheap glasses for those who require them, audiology services and cheap hearing aids for those who need them, prescription drugs which are bought wholesale at discounted rates the generic versions only.
(c). Available at the public health clinics via referral would be the services of other specialists-- also physicians who have just graduated-- mental hell, podiatry, internal medicine, gyn, gut docs, diabetes specialists, obesity specialists, bone docs, neuro docs, pain docs...etc.
(2). That there be charity hospitals available in every state which would provide hospital services for anyone who is unable or unwilling to pay for insurance.
(3). That those of us who are able and willing to pay to get out of the public health care system thus affording more choice and more experienced docs will be able to choose to do so.
(4). That abortions only be provided when there has been rape, incest, or genuine medical necessity (i.e. carrying to term will result in death of the mother, fetus lacks brain stem...).
The public health clinics and charity hospitals would be paid for via:
A). redirection of funds from faith-based office (eliminate it), faith-based "grants" (eliminate it), and school voucher programs (eliminate them).
B). medicaid funds (eliminate medicaid).
C). taxes on alcohol, tobacco, and gun ammo.
D). a fat tax (anyone who is above optimal weight and has not lost weight in the last fiscal year).
E). a foodie tax (all fast foods, candy, ice cream, sweets, butters...).
The newly graduated medical personnel would be paid minimum wages for their time in the public clinics and charity hospitals.
Any other practical details would have to be worked out by folks who are more knowledgeable than I am about such things.
Harsh? Yeah, it's harsh. But these are trying financial times.
radical sapphoq
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Net Neutrality-- three cheers for Julius
Hidden away on page A13 in this Sunday's Albany Times Useless-- I mean Times Union-- was a small article from Associated Press titled F.C.C. plans to propose 'Net neutrality' rules. Yesterday F.C.C.'s chair Julius Genachowski delivered a speech to the Brookings Institute which included some proposals that would help ensure that the internet remain an information highway without threat of slow down or shut out of content by I.S.P.s. The full content of this speech is available at the following u.r.l.:
http://www.brookings.edu/events/2009/0921_broadband_communications.aspx
The bad ol Internet Service Providers are upset and crying government interference.
(http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125354032776727741.html ). They want to be able to do things like select what legal content (especially if it is related to a service which their own company provides) is allowed to consumers or at least how fast such content can be accessed. Nothing in the proposal will prohibit providers from adopting tier plans or blocking high-end users from downloading stuff during peak flow times. Their objection that folks will merely move away from the I.S.P.s who block content they want is meaningless in the face of a certain reality that right now in any geographical area of the United States, very few of us have the option of moving from one I.S.P. to another. In a field where my choice is between two providers, that is hardly any choice at all.
radical sapphoq says: Bravo Julius!
http://www.brookings.edu/events/2009/0921_broadband_communications.aspx
The bad ol Internet Service Providers are upset and crying government interference.
(http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125354032776727741.html ). They want to be able to do things like select what legal content (especially if it is related to a service which their own company provides) is allowed to consumers or at least how fast such content can be accessed. Nothing in the proposal will prohibit providers from adopting tier plans or blocking high-end users from downloading stuff during peak flow times. Their objection that folks will merely move away from the I.S.P.s who block content they want is meaningless in the face of a certain reality that right now in any geographical area of the United States, very few of us have the option of moving from one I.S.P. to another. In a field where my choice is between two providers, that is hardly any choice at all.
radical sapphoq says: Bravo Julius!
Friday, September 04, 2009
Health Care Reform the Obama Way
By now everyone has heard about the thousand page packet of Health Care Reform being advocated by President Barack Obama. The dems for the most part are backing it and the repubs for the most part are crying foul. From the news coverage alone, I was unable to pick up exactly why there was a bunch of folks talking about killing off grannies. So I turned to my friend Jeremy Crow who wrote back to me this answer:
A quote by Obama that you should look up on the internet, is his statement
"we aren't going to give a 100 year old man a pacemaker, we are going to send
him home with morphine" .. This was in response to an article about how evil
"Anthem" gave a 92 year old man authorization for a pacemaker after his doctor
called them and told them personally that the guy had a high level of life enjoyment
and was willing to pay for it out of pocket (which he didn't have to in the end). The
topic was brought up because under Obamacare he would have voided his insurance
by paying for it himself because he was "interfering" with the Government-approved
method of action...
The law NOW is that all people that crawl into an emergency room have to be treated
regardless of ability to pay or money already owed (or in the case of all the illegals,
ability to prove legal address .. Thus completely FREE) but under Obamacare like all
Socialist plans, you can be denied and the Government backs it as THEY wrote the
rules.
The argument here is that it will finally start denying illegals access to healthcare BUT
as we know, the politicians are lying to us and will change that the second they get us
to believe they won't .. I use seat belt laws as the example for this .. They always say
"we won't pull you over for seat belts alone" and then within a year they ALWAYS
change it .. It is the same type of lie that scares us here ...
Oh as far as the killing granny thing .. It is written in the healthcare bill that they
will have life expectancy requirements for care, and in the event that it isn't
cost-effective to prolong life they will prescribe pain killers, life end therapy,
and on request life decision specialists {Dr Kevorkian in other words} .. Ask
[a mutual blogging buddy from Australia] about eye surgery and cancer
treatments in one of those wonderful socialized medical places :(
This issue is problematic and I continue to believe that there aren't any "easy answers" to the mess that healthcare in the United States has become. I remember the birth of the health maintenance organizations. I even remember what healthcare was like "before" in the days when
we basically paid for services and the insurance company would provide reimbursement by mail later on.
To the charge that what is being proposed is socialized medicine, I can only nod and say, "Yes of course it is." That in and of itself is not a reason to say no. What is bothersome to me is the government meddling in healthcare in the first place. I dislike what healthcare has become. I dislike the HIPPA Laws which supposedly are for our "protection" but have further made a mess
of things. (For example, supposedly because of the HIPPA Laws, our dentist's office no longer allows anyone but the patient to be in the examination room. The idea that any particular agency which supposedly has a good reason for wanting my medical files can get them without my permission is nauseating to me. And the idea that some folks have of encoding our records into a chip implanting into a shoulder or wherever makes me want to move to anywhere that this will not be done. Okay, that is three examples).
It is certainly admirable to want to ensure that basic healthcare is available to all citizens (NOT to illegal aliens). It is necessary that we continue to seek ways to make basic healthcare practical and affordable. The insurance companies have their own vested interest in this thing as does the medical profession. The insurance companies are basically interested in insuring the healthier people who are likely to stay healthy and not require expenditures. The doctors (who would have vastly preferred the pay-as-you-go system to remain in place) do not want to be forced to take less money and less money from the insurance companies (and here I am thinking of Medicaid rates especially).
For some time now, the health maintenance organizations have tried over and over again to dictate to doctors what tests they may order and when, what drugs they may or may not prescribe, when a sick patient can be referred to the more expensive specialist. And yes, we have "death squads" now, in the form of review committees within the insurance companies who can and do deny care to the most sickest by labeling expensive treatment as "experimental." It is not just granny being killed off these days. Having been forced to take on the sicker people, the insurance companies take measures to keep their own costs and risks down. Because the bottom line for any insurance company is that writing policy for any individual is a gamble. No one wants the sick or the disabled on their rolls.
I see nothing wrong with providing end-of-life counseling to those who wish it. Such counseling is available now through hospices. Although Jack Kervorkian is a whack job [ever read his interview in Playboy magazine some years ago?] who perhaps delighted in his helping people to kill themselves a bit too much, I think that there will continue to be terminally ill patients who wish assisted suicide for as long as there will be inadequate pain relief provided to them. I worked in a nursing home once where there was an elderly woman with end-stage leukemia who was refusing all pain meds. She was screaming in pain and the nurse was crying, begging her to allow some relief. The woman kept refusing and she died in mid-scream. That woman refused pain meds by her own choice. There are people in hospitals being denied pain relief because the nurses are afraid that they will become addicted. One of my close friends with a severe leg fracture (right above her knee prosthesis) was denied pain relief for that reason. I had to fight for her to get pain meds before an ambulance ride to another facility 90 miles away!).
And yes, more research is needed in the areas of pain management for all of us (here I am thinking of those of us who have fibromyalgia and are usually classified as "drug-seeking" because what is currently available does not address the pain adequately) and not just the terminally ill. If an insurance company refuses to pay for "experimental treatment," there is a process of appeal (and the patient is usually dead before getting through such a process). Perhaps alternate funding for experimental treatments can be developed.
radical sapphoq says: The name-calling by all sides of this issue can stop anytime now. People who oppose healthcare reform as it is currently written certainly have valid objections. Those who are in favor of it also have valid reasons for liking it.
Insurance companies base their profits on predicting the odds of having to pay out large sums of money for any individual policy. It is part of capitalism and a free market economy. We need competition between insurance providers in order to continue to have choices.
There are pros and cons to socialized medicine. I am not convinced that socialized medicine is the way to go. (And I also suspect that the health care reform bill in its' present state will not pass due to the powerful insurance and medical lobbies).
I dislike the idea of government meddling in healthcare. I don't trust the politicians to do what is correct for the average citizen nor for disabled folks.
I believe that every citizen (but not any illegal aliens) have a basic right to basic health care. I would support basic health care for all citizens (via the use of "clinics" perhaps) paid for by our taxes with the option to purchase more comprehensive coverage and choice of providers available to those who are willing and able to pay for such coverage.
My opinions may change as I get better informed. I do intend to read the entire thousand page document probably sometime next week.
Obama and the cardiologists and other docs:
http://blogs.wsj.com/health/2009/06/15/text-of-obamas-speech-before-the-ama/
http://cardiobrief.org/2009/06/15/dr-barack-obama-speaks-out-on-cardiology/
http://www.acc.org/advocacy/weekly/archives/july_09/072909.cfm#2
http://qualityfirst.acc.org/Pages/default_new.aspx
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aRqnpw9ZInJ4
anti-Obama health care reform:
http://www.michnews.com/J_Grant_Swank_Jr/jgs82009.shtml
http://proteinwisdom.com/?p=15209
http://michellemalkin.com/2009/08/11/little-girl-at-obama-town-hall-has-not-so-random-political-connections/
http://www.boston.com/yourtown/news/malden/2009/08/a_girl_from_malden_asked.html?p1=Well_MostPop_Emailed2 <---see letters especially
pro-Obama health care reform:
http://voices.kansascity.com/node/5718
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2009/08/22/obama_decries_outrageous_myths.html
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2009/08/06/healthcare/
we already have death squads built in our current health insurance plans:
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2009/08/11/denial_of_care/?source=newsletter
recommended for news that effects us oldsters and others:
http://www.seniorsworldchronicle.com/
http://lewinreport.acc.org/
A quote by Obama that you should look up on the internet, is his statement
"we aren't going to give a 100 year old man a pacemaker, we are going to send
him home with morphine" .. This was in response to an article about how evil
"Anthem" gave a 92 year old man authorization for a pacemaker after his doctor
called them and told them personally that the guy had a high level of life enjoyment
and was willing to pay for it out of pocket (which he didn't have to in the end). The
topic was brought up because under Obamacare he would have voided his insurance
by paying for it himself because he was "interfering" with the Government-approved
method of action...
The law NOW is that all people that crawl into an emergency room have to be treated
regardless of ability to pay or money already owed (or in the case of all the illegals,
ability to prove legal address .. Thus completely FREE) but under Obamacare like all
Socialist plans, you can be denied and the Government backs it as THEY wrote the
rules.
The argument here is that it will finally start denying illegals access to healthcare BUT
as we know, the politicians are lying to us and will change that the second they get us
to believe they won't .. I use seat belt laws as the example for this .. They always say
"we won't pull you over for seat belts alone" and then within a year they ALWAYS
change it .. It is the same type of lie that scares us here ...
Oh as far as the killing granny thing .. It is written in the healthcare bill that they
will have life expectancy requirements for care, and in the event that it isn't
cost-effective to prolong life they will prescribe pain killers, life end therapy,
and on request life decision specialists {Dr Kevorkian in other words} .. Ask
[a mutual blogging buddy from Australia] about eye surgery and cancer
treatments in one of those wonderful socialized medical places :(
This issue is problematic and I continue to believe that there aren't any "easy answers" to the mess that healthcare in the United States has become. I remember the birth of the health maintenance organizations. I even remember what healthcare was like "before" in the days when
we basically paid for services and the insurance company would provide reimbursement by mail later on.
To the charge that what is being proposed is socialized medicine, I can only nod and say, "Yes of course it is." That in and of itself is not a reason to say no. What is bothersome to me is the government meddling in healthcare in the first place. I dislike what healthcare has become. I dislike the HIPPA Laws which supposedly are for our "protection" but have further made a mess
of things. (For example, supposedly because of the HIPPA Laws, our dentist's office no longer allows anyone but the patient to be in the examination room. The idea that any particular agency which supposedly has a good reason for wanting my medical files can get them without my permission is nauseating to me. And the idea that some folks have of encoding our records into a chip implanting into a shoulder or wherever makes me want to move to anywhere that this will not be done. Okay, that is three examples).
It is certainly admirable to want to ensure that basic healthcare is available to all citizens (NOT to illegal aliens). It is necessary that we continue to seek ways to make basic healthcare practical and affordable. The insurance companies have their own vested interest in this thing as does the medical profession. The insurance companies are basically interested in insuring the healthier people who are likely to stay healthy and not require expenditures. The doctors (who would have vastly preferred the pay-as-you-go system to remain in place) do not want to be forced to take less money and less money from the insurance companies (and here I am thinking of Medicaid rates especially).
For some time now, the health maintenance organizations have tried over and over again to dictate to doctors what tests they may order and when, what drugs they may or may not prescribe, when a sick patient can be referred to the more expensive specialist. And yes, we have "death squads" now, in the form of review committees within the insurance companies who can and do deny care to the most sickest by labeling expensive treatment as "experimental." It is not just granny being killed off these days. Having been forced to take on the sicker people, the insurance companies take measures to keep their own costs and risks down. Because the bottom line for any insurance company is that writing policy for any individual is a gamble. No one wants the sick or the disabled on their rolls.
I see nothing wrong with providing end-of-life counseling to those who wish it. Such counseling is available now through hospices. Although Jack Kervorkian is a whack job [ever read his interview in Playboy magazine some years ago?] who perhaps delighted in his helping people to kill themselves a bit too much, I think that there will continue to be terminally ill patients who wish assisted suicide for as long as there will be inadequate pain relief provided to them. I worked in a nursing home once where there was an elderly woman with end-stage leukemia who was refusing all pain meds. She was screaming in pain and the nurse was crying, begging her to allow some relief. The woman kept refusing and she died in mid-scream. That woman refused pain meds by her own choice. There are people in hospitals being denied pain relief because the nurses are afraid that they will become addicted. One of my close friends with a severe leg fracture (right above her knee prosthesis) was denied pain relief for that reason. I had to fight for her to get pain meds before an ambulance ride to another facility 90 miles away!).
And yes, more research is needed in the areas of pain management for all of us (here I am thinking of those of us who have fibromyalgia and are usually classified as "drug-seeking" because what is currently available does not address the pain adequately) and not just the terminally ill. If an insurance company refuses to pay for "experimental treatment," there is a process of appeal (and the patient is usually dead before getting through such a process). Perhaps alternate funding for experimental treatments can be developed.
radical sapphoq says: The name-calling by all sides of this issue can stop anytime now. People who oppose healthcare reform as it is currently written certainly have valid objections. Those who are in favor of it also have valid reasons for liking it.
Insurance companies base their profits on predicting the odds of having to pay out large sums of money for any individual policy. It is part of capitalism and a free market economy. We need competition between insurance providers in order to continue to have choices.
There are pros and cons to socialized medicine. I am not convinced that socialized medicine is the way to go. (And I also suspect that the health care reform bill in its' present state will not pass due to the powerful insurance and medical lobbies).
I dislike the idea of government meddling in healthcare. I don't trust the politicians to do what is correct for the average citizen nor for disabled folks.
I believe that every citizen (but not any illegal aliens) have a basic right to basic health care. I would support basic health care for all citizens (via the use of "clinics" perhaps) paid for by our taxes with the option to purchase more comprehensive coverage and choice of providers available to those who are willing and able to pay for such coverage.
My opinions may change as I get better informed. I do intend to read the entire thousand page document probably sometime next week.
Obama and the cardiologists and other docs:
http://blogs.wsj.com/health/2009/06/15/text-of-obamas-speech-before-the-ama/
http://cardiobrief.org/2009/06/15/dr-barack-obama-speaks-out-on-cardiology/
http://www.acc.org/advocacy/weekly/archives/july_09/072909.cfm#2
http://qualityfirst.acc.org/Pages/default_new.aspx
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aRqnpw9ZInJ4
anti-Obama health care reform:
http://www.michnews.com/J_Grant_Swank_Jr/jgs82009.shtml
http://proteinwisdom.com/?p=15209
http://michellemalkin.com/2009/08/11/little-girl-at-obama-town-hall-has-not-so-random-political-connections/
http://www.boston.com/yourtown/news/malden/2009/08/a_girl_from_malden_asked.html?p1=Well_MostPop_Emailed2 <---see letters especially
pro-Obama health care reform:
http://voices.kansascity.com/node/5718
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2009/08/22/obama_decries_outrageous_myths.html
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2009/08/06/healthcare/
we already have death squads built in our current health insurance plans:
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2009/08/11/denial_of_care/?source=newsletter
recommended for news that effects us oldsters and others:
http://www.seniorsworldchronicle.com/
http://lewinreport.acc.org/
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Michael Jackson is Dead
Michael Jackson died of food poisoning I heard. Upon second autopsy, an eight year old sausage was found in his stomach. A tasteless joke. Sorry.
Michael Jackson, famous child singer from The Jackson Five, is dead at the age of 50 on June 25, 2009. Preliminary results indicate cardiac arrest. All of you probably already know that. Oh well. Michael Jackson's life journey was riddled with stories of his own child abuse, accusations (acquitted) that he abused kids at his Neverland Ranch, a ton of plastic surgery, and songs hitting the charts. The most recent "news" involved the leaking of an autopsy photo (FALSE as of present) and stories about addictions to/use of/abuse of painkillers (YES, there are a variety of reports of addiction).
radical sapphoq says: My initial reaction was, "Good riddance to another pedophile." In doing web searches, I came away with a heightened sympathy for Michael Jackson, even if I don't now understand why he went through all of those plastic surgeries (and judge the results to be f'ugly) and even if yeah, I suspect that he may have been reckless in his behavior toward boys and may have abused them sexually (although the prosecutor did not prove the case and Michael Jackson was acquitted by a jury of his peers). As a survivor of sexual abuse and rape myself, I recognize that true compassion deserves to rest with the victims (if there are any, I truly do not know in spite of my strong suspicions).
As a human being, I feel compassion for Michael Jackson's three kids left behind by his death. As a hardass, I will say that when one person dies, we (individually, collectively, the world) lose one person. When one person dies, that person loses everyone. And regardless of how many people are in the room, each of us dies alone.
Any mistakes are my own. Sources:
Michael Jackson is dead at the age of 50.
http://www.tmz.com/2009/06/25/michael-jackson-dies-death-dead-cardiac-arrest/
Michael Jackson was the child star of the Jackson Five.
http://www.classicbands.com/jackson.html
He and sister Janet Jackson grew up to each become stars in their own rights.
A myspace page tribute to Michael Jackson the musician:
http://www.myspace.com/michaeljackson
Lyrics of Michael Jackson songs:
http://www.azlyrics.com/j/jackson.html
Michael of the white glove, the moonwalk, and the song Billie Jean.
Yup, I can do the moonwalk:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billie_Jean
Michael holding a baby-- his-- out a third floor balcony in Berlin.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/2494249.stm
Michael and the accusations of molestation of one boy at Neverland Ranch. Talk of prior sexual misconduct with other boys. Acquitted.
http://www.statemaster.com/encyclopedia/Gavin-Arvizo
http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/06/13/jackson.trial/
Michael and use of painkillers.
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/MichaelJackson/story?id=7938918&page=1
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1195626/The-addiction-pills-took-Michael-Jacksons-life--finally-destroyed-him.html
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20090629/jackson_painkillers_090629/20090629?hub=Entertainment
Michael becoming almost-white-Michael with a slitted reptilian nose over time. Site has pictures and descriptions:
http://www.anomalies-unlimited.com/Jackson.html
Jokes are halfway down and not for the easily offended or squeamish.
http://williambader.com/mj.html
Rumors of an autopsy photo being leaked. N.B. The Sun is a Brit tabloid.
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1895958/michael_jackson_autopsy_photo_still.html?cat=33
Michael Jackson, famous child singer from The Jackson Five, is dead at the age of 50 on June 25, 2009. Preliminary results indicate cardiac arrest. All of you probably already know that. Oh well. Michael Jackson's life journey was riddled with stories of his own child abuse, accusations (acquitted) that he abused kids at his Neverland Ranch, a ton of plastic surgery, and songs hitting the charts. The most recent "news" involved the leaking of an autopsy photo (FALSE as of present) and stories about addictions to/use of/abuse of painkillers (YES, there are a variety of reports of addiction).
radical sapphoq says: My initial reaction was, "Good riddance to another pedophile." In doing web searches, I came away with a heightened sympathy for Michael Jackson, even if I don't now understand why he went through all of those plastic surgeries (and judge the results to be f'ugly) and even if yeah, I suspect that he may have been reckless in his behavior toward boys and may have abused them sexually (although the prosecutor did not prove the case and Michael Jackson was acquitted by a jury of his peers). As a survivor of sexual abuse and rape myself, I recognize that true compassion deserves to rest with the victims (if there are any, I truly do not know in spite of my strong suspicions).
As a human being, I feel compassion for Michael Jackson's three kids left behind by his death. As a hardass, I will say that when one person dies, we (individually, collectively, the world) lose one person. When one person dies, that person loses everyone. And regardless of how many people are in the room, each of us dies alone.
Any mistakes are my own. Sources:
Michael Jackson is dead at the age of 50.
http://www.tmz.com/2009/06/25/michael-jackson-dies-death-dead-cardiac-arrest/
Michael Jackson was the child star of the Jackson Five.
http://www.classicbands.com/jackson.html
He and sister Janet Jackson grew up to each become stars in their own rights.
A myspace page tribute to Michael Jackson the musician:
http://www.myspace.com/michaeljackson
Lyrics of Michael Jackson songs:
http://www.azlyrics.com/j/jackson.html
Michael of the white glove, the moonwalk, and the song Billie Jean.
Yup, I can do the moonwalk:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billie_Jean
Michael holding a baby-- his-- out a third floor balcony in Berlin.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/2494249.stm
Michael and the accusations of molestation of one boy at Neverland Ranch. Talk of prior sexual misconduct with other boys. Acquitted.
http://www.statemaster.com/encyclopedia/Gavin-Arvizo
http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/06/13/jackson.trial/
Michael and use of painkillers.
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/MichaelJackson/story?id=7938918&page=1
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1195626/The-addiction-pills-took-Michael-Jacksons-life--finally-destroyed-him.html
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20090629/jackson_painkillers_090629/20090629?hub=Entertainment
Michael becoming almost-white-Michael with a slitted reptilian nose over time. Site has pictures and descriptions:
http://www.anomalies-unlimited.com/Jackson.html
Jokes are halfway down and not for the easily offended or squeamish.
http://williambader.com/mj.html
Rumors of an autopsy photo being leaked. N.B. The Sun is a Brit tabloid.
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1895958/michael_jackson_autopsy_photo_still.html?cat=33
Monday, June 08, 2009
Tiananmen Square, I honor
June 4 was the twentieth anniversary of Tiananmen Square. On June 4, 1989 Chinese students gathered on Tiananmen
Square in Beijing demonstrating for a free-er more democratic China. Chinese tanks came and mowed them down. Many
students died-- even those who had evacuated the square-- and some bystanders as well. Thousands of people died.
On June 4, 2009 the square was closed and a heavy military presence was keeping an uneasy peace. Blogs and social
networking sites were shut down for the day. Wu'er Kaixi, a student who has been exiled, was denied entrance into
Macau where his parents live. Other dissidents were made to leave Beijing or forced to stay indoors. The Chinese
authorities did not want any debate, discussion, or memorials of that day twenty years ago where many died for their
vision of democracy. The government has never taken any responsibility for the bloodshed.
I wasn't there when the tanks came. I wasn't there when shots rang out across the square. I wasn't there for the
massacre. To the Chinese people who were murdered, to their families and friends, to those left behind I want you
to know that one Westerner remembers and honors all of you.
radical sapphoq
Portland Press Herald, Thursday June 4, 2009, page 8. China takes hard-line stand on 'massacre' anniversary.
J. Maarten Troost, Lost on Planet China. New York: Doubleday, 2008. paperback, 382 pps.
Square in Beijing demonstrating for a free-er more democratic China. Chinese tanks came and mowed them down. Many
students died-- even those who had evacuated the square-- and some bystanders as well. Thousands of people died.
On June 4, 2009 the square was closed and a heavy military presence was keeping an uneasy peace. Blogs and social
networking sites were shut down for the day. Wu'er Kaixi, a student who has been exiled, was denied entrance into
Macau where his parents live. Other dissidents were made to leave Beijing or forced to stay indoors. The Chinese
authorities did not want any debate, discussion, or memorials of that day twenty years ago where many died for their
vision of democracy. The government has never taken any responsibility for the bloodshed.
I wasn't there when the tanks came. I wasn't there when shots rang out across the square. I wasn't there for the
massacre. To the Chinese people who were murdered, to their families and friends, to those left behind I want you
to know that one Westerner remembers and honors all of you.
radical sapphoq
Portland Press Herald, Thursday June 4, 2009, page 8. China takes hard-line stand on 'massacre' anniversary.
J. Maarten Troost, Lost on Planet China. New York: Doubleday, 2008. paperback, 382 pps.
Friday, May 15, 2009
Playing for Pay
http://www.dailytech.com/UK+Investigators+Claim+Ganglords+Used+PlayStations+to+Run+Businesses+from+Prison/article15141.htm
According to an agency in the U.K., some prisoners over there are utilizing interactive gaming tools to communicate with others on the outside. Bill Hughes of S.O.C.A. (Serious Organized Crime Agency) is quotes as saying this is happening and the Prison Service is concerned. The Prison Service denies same.
Seriously, I can envision a bunch of grown men hunched over consoles behind bars playing "Super Mario" (tm) or some other such game as a means of ordering hits or whatever.
Members of organized crime who are in jails and prisons have always found ways to communicate their directives to those on the outside. Whether it is via ultra-small handwriting in letters or elaborate hand signals, prisoners will continue to create code. I have to hand it to the fellows who figured out how to use gaming consoles to charge minutes to their cell phones-- very creative, guys.
radical sapphoq
According to an agency in the U.K., some prisoners over there are utilizing interactive gaming tools to communicate with others on the outside. Bill Hughes of S.O.C.A. (Serious Organized Crime Agency) is quotes as saying this is happening and the Prison Service is concerned. The Prison Service denies same.
Seriously, I can envision a bunch of grown men hunched over consoles behind bars playing "Super Mario" (tm) or some other such game as a means of ordering hits or whatever.
Members of organized crime who are in jails and prisons have always found ways to communicate their directives to those on the outside. Whether it is via ultra-small handwriting in letters or elaborate hand signals, prisoners will continue to create code. I have to hand it to the fellows who figured out how to use gaming consoles to charge minutes to their cell phones-- very creative, guys.
radical sapphoq
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
CHANGING MY OWN TELEVISION CHANNELS
Changing My Own Television Channels PHILIP ROSEDALE: "look at how we can make the overall experience appropriately safe and controlled for everybody. So that's the general direction that we're taking there."
I am responsible for my own safety thank-you. Furthermore, I do not need nor want a controlled experience. Nor do I care for the overused word "appropriate" or derivatives thereof.
I am an atheist. I do not call the cable company and demand that a rep come right over to turn off the preachers on my television. I change the channel myself.
You don't like something going on in a parcel? Then get out. Change your own television channel. If you linger there, well that's just mental masturbation.
And yes, forcing the PG places to move to a PG continent would be far better than this "we Lindens are instituting this move to Porno Land" mentality. Let them who wish to be controlled (or have a controlled environment) opt in for the move.
So the merging of the two grids is a bloody rumor. Fine. I for one hope it never comes to pass. I'm sick of hearing WE MUST PROTECT THE CHILDREN. Parents, monitor the activities of your own rug rats. I don't have children for many reasons. It is not my job to watch your kids. But I digress.
As for the child avie sex thing/porn ring/German reporters/ propositioning no0bs/whatever it really was...that launched all this silliness in the first place: I don't care. The courts are taking care of that case. Pedoheads should not be allowed on the internet, period. Civil rights for all civils.
Those adults who are not fantasizing about baby raping (the vast majority of us) basically-- well, okay. I cannot speak for anyone else. I would like to see a reasonable response to all of this, such as checking the "Yup I've of age and I am willing to live with the idea that not everyone does or believes the same way I do so let me in" box.
By actively policing content, Lindens, you very well maybe subjecting yourselves to more lawsuits and legal responsibilities. That is, unless you --like Live Journal-- also plan to sell out to a Russian company or someplace else where an oppressive government imprisons their citizens for attempting to have some form of creative expression.
I have lived through the Live Journal messes of the last several years (and the ultimate selling of Live Journal to the Russians for a heap of money). And now this.
Land prices: falling.
Blood pressure: rising.
Hey, I'm an adult. I'm going to make the healthy choice and go out for some vigorous exercise. Then maybe later on I will be in a calm enough state to enjoy some simulated sex act between pixels.
The intrawebs are for pr0n.
SpikeQ Frog
civil rights for all civils
http://forums.secondlife.com/showthread.php?p=2408880#post2408880
I am responsible for my own safety thank-you. Furthermore, I do not need nor want a controlled experience. Nor do I care for the overused word "appropriate" or derivatives thereof.
I am an atheist. I do not call the cable company and demand that a rep come right over to turn off the preachers on my television. I change the channel myself.
You don't like something going on in a parcel? Then get out. Change your own television channel. If you linger there, well that's just mental masturbation.
And yes, forcing the PG places to move to a PG continent would be far better than this "we Lindens are instituting this move to Porno Land" mentality. Let them who wish to be controlled (or have a controlled environment) opt in for the move.
So the merging of the two grids is a bloody rumor. Fine. I for one hope it never comes to pass. I'm sick of hearing WE MUST PROTECT THE CHILDREN. Parents, monitor the activities of your own rug rats. I don't have children for many reasons. It is not my job to watch your kids. But I digress.
As for the child avie sex thing/porn ring/German reporters/ propositioning no0bs/whatever it really was...that launched all this silliness in the first place: I don't care. The courts are taking care of that case. Pedoheads should not be allowed on the internet, period. Civil rights for all civils.
Those adults who are not fantasizing about baby raping (the vast majority of us) basically-- well, okay. I cannot speak for anyone else. I would like to see a reasonable response to all of this, such as checking the "Yup I've of age and I am willing to live with the idea that not everyone does or believes the same way I do so let me in" box.
By actively policing content, Lindens, you very well maybe subjecting yourselves to more lawsuits and legal responsibilities. That is, unless you --like Live Journal-- also plan to sell out to a Russian company or someplace else where an oppressive government imprisons their citizens for attempting to have some form of creative expression.
I have lived through the Live Journal messes of the last several years (and the ultimate selling of Live Journal to the Russians for a heap of money). And now this.
Land prices: falling.
Blood pressure: rising.
Hey, I'm an adult. I'm going to make the healthy choice and go out for some vigorous exercise. Then maybe later on I will be in a calm enough state to enjoy some simulated sex act between pixels.
The intrawebs are for pr0n.
SpikeQ Frog
civil rights for all civils
http://forums.secondlife.com/showthread.php?p=2408880#post2408880
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